We explain what it is to be upright and its senses. Also, the importance of upright posture in human evolution.
What is it to be upright?
When we say that something or someone is upright or that they stood up, we mean that they got up, stood up or stood upright, maintaining a straight, firm posture, without risk of falling or hesitating.
When this has to do with a person, we generally use upright to refer to the head and neck region: someone upright raises their head, looks straight ahead, and stands up straight.
This posture gives rise to figurative meanings: an upright posture is culturally associated with pride, the dignity wave pride, while a stooped or crouched posture is associated with defeat, humiliation or submission.
This is perhaps due to the fact that in the history of the humanity upright posture has significant value. At some point in its history evolutionary, our species stopped walking on four limbs, that is, leaning on the front limbs as gorillas do, to walk only on the hind limbs.
In this way, he acquired a straight, straight posture, which freed his hands and allowed him to carry objects and use tools. Thus, the upright posture is a clear trait of humanity, compared to the stooped posture of other primates.
In any case, the word erect derives from the verb erect, coming from the Latin voices ex– (inside out) and regere (“lift”, “straighten”, but also “lead” or “govern”). Over time, the prefix ex– ended up becoming er-, giving origin in Spanish to two closely related words: erect Y erect.
That is why when a building or a monument is erected, for example, it is also being erected, that is, taking it to an upright position. Thus, we usually speak of the buildings and constructions that stand out from the plane as upright, in a somewhat metaphorical way, as if the buildings had raised their heads to stand straight.
Among the synonyms of upright are: raised, straight, straight, erect, stiff or standing, while among its antonyms would be: crooked, bent, inclined, fallen or bent.
For its part, the verb erect is irregular and has a relatively difficult conjugation: I yergo, you know stood up, they know stand up, etc.
Some example sentences are as follows:
- An upright posture when working is key to keeping your spine healthy.
- The workers raised their flags to summon their comrades to strike.
- The statue of the Liberator stands on a bronze pedestal.
- Standing tall against the horizon, the obelisk could be seen from afar.
- Human beings walk upright, not stooped.
- The troops raised their bayonets and resumed their march.